胖劉媽的另一個窩

 2008年12月攝於澳洲黃金海岸 -- 誰敢接我的沙球?看招!

第一學期(Term 1)開學到現在已經過了五個禮拜，可我都沒寫半點和O少有關的事。倒不是我不關心他，而是他不讓我管，學校也沒特殊的事可提呀!

 
說實在的，算O少運氣好，今年還能留在ALP課程內。雖然我的小表妹，也就是O少的小表姨Christine認為能不能繼續參與ALP課程沒什麼了不起(想當年她自己也是ALP的學生)，反正O少明年讀Year 11時便依照學生選修的課程分組，所有ALP課程的學生也會編入正常班，也就是不再依程度分班，一切以NCEA為重心。不過我覺得O少還是蠻在意的，所以去年底他知道他沒被刷下來時，自己也鬆了一口氣。今年他的數學(Maths)和科學(Science)，並沒有如我去年底預估可以跳級。O少仍和其他大部份的孩子一樣上Year 10的ALP課程，班上只有幾位同學跳級讀Year 11課程，如Jason。我曾問他在不在意，O少聳聳肩，一副無所謂的樣子。不過後來想想，不跳級也好，免得孩子有壓力，為了搶前幾名的名次還得去補習，那就有點本末倒置了。

O少至今的表現讓劉爸比和我頻頻捏一把冷汗。O少希望我們相信他，不讓我們多問，他說他一定會做好他的功課。可每天總是看到他坐在電腦前，一會看水管(Youtube)下載的日本卡通(有英文字幕)，一會則是看網路漫畫，我們不知道他做功課做完了沒，是否只是敷衍了事，能不能達到老師的要求。問嘛，怕他嫌我們囉唆，不問嘛，又覺得我這個當媽的一點也不盡責，所以常陷入兩難。我仍維持我的一貫標準，那就是至少都得拿到M-Merit(那天竟然聽到O少的同學說他媽媽只要求A-achieved)，劉爸比則認為至少等一半以上拿到E-Excellence。我要劉爸比自己跟兒子說，他卻不說，這簡直是黑臉、惡人全讓我一人擔嘛！

但一篇英文作業卻讓劉爸比和我開始覺得我這兒子還是有兩下子，只是他用不用心而已。周二O少的英文老師把改好的作業發回給學生，O少卻沒拿到。原來是老師給了O少一個E，並告訴O少要晚一天再還，因為他要留下來當範本。劉爸比和我都覺得不可置信(應該說太出乎意料之外)，皮皮的O少還故意裝哭泣狀，說他好受傷(其實O少心裡爽得很)。隔天O少將作業拿回家，我趕緊拜讀寶貝的大作，很驚訝地發現O少文筆中透露出自信。沒想到他寫得還真不錯。

以下就是O少英文作業的內容:

Myself as a Kiwi

I’m not “100% Pure Kiwi” but being born here and living here for most of my life makes me feel Kiwi enough. I guess my family has a habit of jumping from place to place, starting from my grandpa moving from his home from China to Taiwan, then my parents jumping to NZ from Taiwan. We even go back every year, perhaps not to get sick of the Kiwi lifestyle but I think I never will. But to think, if it weren’t for a friend’s recommendation, I could have been an Australian, living the Australian lifestyle! Crikey!

New Zealand has that uniqueness about it that separates it from the rest of the world. Maybe it’s actually people being good at DIY, working hard all day to just to find out they have more to do. Kiwis are very active and in turn make them very obsessive of their sport. The conversation with an average Kiwi bloke always begin with the results of the latest rugby or cricket following by what’s coming up next in the sports department. Silence is obviously not golden with kiwi men as they like nothing more than a good chat being quiet isn’t good enough for them.

Perhaps it is the informality of Kiwis that make things feel relaxing or it could even be the understatements that make Kiwis appear modest and have a sense of humour in the worst situations. If a kiwi saved a life they would probably say: “It was nothing.” It’s nice see modesty in a world full of pompous, obnoxious people all wanting attention targeted at them.

New Zealand is a big mixing pot of cultures which in a way, also it what makes New Zealand a unique place. People from all over the world come to New Zealand for its individuality and great mixture of cultures to suit anybody and everybody. Sure New Zealand has Maori/European heritage, but the many cultures making up the New Zealand population is what makes New Zealand such a great location, well for just about everything!

Traditional kiwi food is easy to find as it is delicious. Although we have a variety of cultures offering their country’s food to New Zealand, Kiwis should never forget the food they invented themselves. Ignorant foreigners ought to try for themselves great kiwi cuisine like kiwifruit, kumara, Pavlova, L&P or for people that more daring should try the Huhu grub and Whitebait. Make sure they eat it and they’ll be happy you made them try!

New Zealand is clean and green, which is another great bonus of New Zealand. I have been to a few countries in the world and New Zealand is by far has the cleanest air and the most trees. Where smog should be there is actually air! In a lot of countries you see the sad sight of entire forests cut down leaving a lifeless, barren land but in New Zealand countryside you can see great, tall trees towering over you, so much that wherever you look, you can not help but to see green bush everywhere.

New Zealanders are proud of their country and I include myself as one of them. Although I am of Asian heritage and both parents are Asian, I was born here and lived here for most of my life. I have seen what makes New Zealand what it is and what makes me a Kiwi. Actually too many to list in a single piece of literature. Though I will say this: many cultures came here believing it was a paradise. They were right.

老師給O少的評語如下:Excellence-Wonderful,celebratory piece,Oliver. Very full & structured & fluent. Fine Work! 我贊同老師的看法，順暢易懂。我更從文章中看到O少如何為自己所處的環境和文化定位。或許將來紐西蘭就需要像O少這樣擁有多元文化背景的孩子，為這個地處邊陲的小國開創一番不同的氣象吧！我的想法會不會太偉大，太不實際了點？
 
 

後記：發回作業的隔天早上，一到STT，Maria連忙跟我現說Damon的作業拿到E，還被老師當成範本，並追著我問O少的評分。我故意說O少沒告訴我，我也還沒找到機會問他。就讓她和Damon娘倆自得其樂吧!我只要知道我兒子很棒就夠啦！